Leonardo da Vinci famously mused in the fifteenth century that “we know more about the movement of celestial bodies than about the soil underfoot.” Just as mind-boggling, the U.S. Forest Service tells us that “Soil is a complex, living system that serves as the skin of the earth. In just one thimble full of soil, you can expect to find 100 million to one billion bacteria, several thousand protozoa and 10 to several hundred nematodes. Dirt is literally squirming with insects, nutrients and life.”

The soil food web is the biologically active part of the soil, which is vital for growing healthy plants. As gardeners, our hands are often in contact with the soil, but unless we have studied botany or horticulture, most of us know very little about the soil in our gardens, other than the fact that our soil anchors and supports our plants’ roots and nourishes the parts of the plant aboveground. It is critical that we gardeners care as much for our soil as we do for our plants.

‘Just-right’ soil

Goldilocks was on a quest to find the “just-right” porridge and a “just-right” bed. If we were on a quest to pinpoint “just-right” soil, these are the attributes we would be looking for.

Texture: Soil can be sandy, silty, loamy or clayey (yes, this is the adjective for clay soil). Soil texture refers to the proportion of sizes of the various particles that make up the soil. Sandy soil has the largest particles. The next largest are silt and the smallest particles are clay. Loam is the best textured soil and contains about 40 percent sand, 40 percent silt and 20 percent clay. Loamy soil is ideal for many reasons including being well aerated and easily penetrated by roots.

Structure: Soil structure refers to the arrangement or aggregation of mineral and organic soil particles and the spaces between them. A just-right soil structure allows the soil to “breathe” and enables both movement and retention of water, air and nutrients. It also provides space for root growth.

Water-holding capacity: Water is delivered to plants from their roots. Water keeps plants turgid and is indispensable to the processes of photosynthesis, transpiration and the transport of nutrients from the soil to the plant. For these reasons, soil needs to hold and release just the right amount of water. Do a drainage test by digging a 1-foot-by-1-foot hole and filling it with water. Let it drain, refill it and time how long it takes to drain. In well-drained soil, the water level will go down at a rate of around 1 inch an hour. Less than that and drainage is inadequate, which is the case in very clayey and compacted soils. Very sandy soils drain too fast, which can deprive plants of sufficient water for their needs. Both sandy and clay soils can be improved with the addition of compost.

Fertility: A fertile, nutrient-rich soil is necessary to supply plants with the macronutrients and micronutrients needed in the proper form for plants’ roots to absorb them. Organic material such as well-rotted plant and animal residues provide soil fertility. Good soils contain 3 to 6 percent organic matter. We can improve our soil’s fertility, texture, water-holding capacity and soil aeration when we amend our soil with organic amendments such as worm castings, manure and compost. These amendments provide a food source for microbes, which can help soil structure regenerate.

Soil pH: An optimal pH is vital to the release of nutrients in the soil to the plant, so a correct pH level makes a huge difference to the health of our plants. Most plants grow best in slightly acidic to neutral soil (a pH between 6.0 and 7.0). The “just-right” pH for roses is a soil that tests between 6.0 and 6.5. An alkaline pH (typical in San Diego) can be adjusted with the addition of sulfur. A too-low pH can be adjusted with the addition of lime.

Soil porosity: Maintaining good air-filled porosity is important, as plants’ roots and soil organisms need oxygen. In water-logged clay soils and compacted soils, porosity decreases, which can limit root growth. Especially under wet conditions, we should refrain from tilling the soil or stepping on the soil, as both actions can lead to compaction.

Soil management and improvement

We may not be able to make our garden soil ideal or “just-right,” but we can take certain actions that will help improve our soil.

Avoid compaction: The lack of oxygen in compacted soils greatly limits plant growth because the lack of oxygen prevents good root growth. Compaction also decreases the micro-organisms inhabiting the soil that change organic matter in the soil into nutrients that plants can use. Is there anything we can do to avoid compacting our soil? Absolutely! Try to avoid walking in garden beds and step as much as possible only on steppingstones. Postpone your plans to work in your garden when the soil is wet after a rain. Limit tilling and spading the soil, as this damages soil structure, especially when the soil is wet.

Amendments to improve soil: Soil amendments such as worm castings and compost improve soil texture, structure, water-holding capacity, fertility, pH and soil porosity. In addition, the nutrients contribute to the soil biota, which help the plant uptake nutrients from the soil. Instead of digging the amendments into the soil, layer the worm castings and compost on top of the soil. Earthworms and other soil organisms will move the organic material into the soil. Adding liquid amendments like liquid humic acid, liquid kelp or seaweed, alfalfa tea or liquid fish emulsion is also a good way to enrich the soil without digging, and these products stimulate the growth of micro-organisms in the soil. Our best option to improve texture, drainage and nutrients in a clay soil and a sandy soil is to add organic materials.

Some rosarians will add gypsum (calcium sulfate) to clay soil to improve structure, compaction and drainage. Jolene Adams, master rosarian and past American Rose Society president, provides evidence in her article, “Will Gypsum Improve Clay Soil” that gypsum can help only a “sodic soil” — a soil with high levels of sodium and low levels of calcium and magnesium. Since the majority of clay soils are not sodic, Adams advises not giving in to the marketing hype and to get a lab test before using gypsum.

Organic mulch: There is a lot to be said for all the benefits that a good organic mulch can provide to the soil. It helps soil retain moisture for plant use, reduces erosion, improves soil structure over time, improves biological activity in our soil, impedes weed growth and it gives the garden beds a finished and attractive appearance. Mulch needs to be applied annually. When applying mulch, do not cover the canes or trunk of your plants.

Kick the chemical fertilizer habit: Synthetic fertilizers are lab-made and faster acting so they boost and expedite plant growth and bloom rate. However, these fertilizers are high in salts and do nothing to improve our soil’s health, texture or long-term fertility. They can be detrimental to populations of beneficial micro-organisms, and too much can “burn” our plants.

Cut out unnecessary fertilizers, pesticides and fungicides: Proper fertilization enhances plant growth without polluting the environment. Too much unnecessary fertilizer, pesticide and fungicide can not only injure, burn and kill a plant, they can also mess up and poison our soil and the soil organisms. Additionally, when these products are overused, they can run off into the ocean, lakes and streams.

Soil test: How can you tell if you are using an unnecessary amount of fertilizer? In addition to the pH of your soil, a soil test will tell you if your soil is deficient in nitrogen, phosphorus or potassium or any of the micronutrients. For a healthy soil and healthy plants, add only the nutrients your soil needs. Epsom salt has been added to rose gardens for decades by conscientious rosarians in the belief that epsom salt prompts basal breaks. But research shows there is no value to this practice unless soil is deficient in magnesium.

What is the top secret to success for gardeners? Take care of the soil, and it will take care of the rest.

Perwich is a member of the San Diego Rose Society, a Consulting Rosarian and a Master Gardener with UC Cooperative Extension.

With a little more than three weeks left until the trade deadline, General Manager A.J. Preller is sure to be shopping for pitching this month.

His two most expensive starters are on the injured list and without a definitive timetable.

The guy expected to be the ace is slumping.

Another key arm has already thrown more innings than he ever has in the majors.

Which makes every turn that Randy Vásquez takes in the rotation a critical data point as Preller decides just how to play the chips he has left.

Just what can the Padres expect from the 25-year-old right-hander?

Starts like Friday’s would be just fine, but clearly at least one leverage bullpen arm needs to be on Preller’s list, too, even if Jurickson Profar and Machado managed to save the day again.

A half-inning after the bullpen coughed up six runs, Profar hit a game-tying homer and Manny Machado hit a walk-off, two-run homer for a 10-8 win over the Diamondbacks in front of a Petco Park-record crowd of 47,171.

It ain’t over ’til Manuel Arturo Machado says it’s over. pic.twitter.com/4LSUvemYtR

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) July 6, 2024

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“We’re making it normal, right?” Profar said. “We’re showing who we are as a team. We’re going to do it over and over again. We’ve got guys in here. I’ve been telling you guys since Day 1, we don’t quit. We keep giving it.”

Especially of late.

The Padres had won four straight series entering the final homestand before the All-Star break. Including Friday’s dramatics, they’ve won 12 of their last 15 games and a 7-2 lead in the ninth inning looked like it would afford Padres manager Mike Shildt his primary goal after Vásquez’s quality start:

Stay away from the leverage arms that had worked the previous two wins.

“Almost at all cost,” Shildt admitted afterward.

Relievers Adrián Morejón and Jeremiah Estrada were both down. Closer Robert Suarez gave the team a thumbs up after throwing Friday afternoon if a save situation arrived and it did, unbelievably.

Shoot, Enyel De Los Santos even recorded the first out of the ninth before back-to-back singles and a walk loaded the bases, forcing Shildt to push Suarez into the game.

His first pitch to Alek Thomas: A grand slam to right to cut the Padres’ lead to a single run.

Suarez fetched another out on a groundball, but Corbin Carroll followed with a double and Randall Grichuk — pinch-hitting for All-Star Ketel Marte (back tightness) — blasted the go-ahead home run into the Western Metal Supply Co. building.

Fine.

No big deal around here.

“We’re built that way,” Machado said. “We’re going to fight until the 27th out is made.”

It never was.

Down 8-7 in the bottom of the ninth, Profar battled back from 0-2 against closer Paul Sewald to launch a game-tying homer to right. After Jake Cronenworth worked a walk, Machado pulled an 0-2 sweeper over the wall in left, setting off a raucous celebration that included a fan managing to get onto the field in front of the dugout with a cellphone in Machados’ face before he was taken to the ground by six security guards.

“I thought it was one of our guys in here celebrating with me,” Machado said after his fourth hit of the game delivered his 10th career walk-off homer. “I looked around and when I turned around he was getting tackled, man. I felt bad. I felt bad.

“Obviously it’s not a good situation for him, but he got some good footage there, for sure.”

What should have been a winning formula without all the late-inning dramatics was small ball early, rookie Jackson Merrill tripling and tying a career-high with three RBIs and Kyle Higashioka adding on in the sixth with a two-run homer.

More and more, Vásquez is contributing to that formula as 6⅓ innings of two-run ball positioned the Padres to win a third straight game that began with him on the mound.

He struck out six batters, including two after Joc Pederson led off the sixth inning with a leadoff single and one more to boot to start the seventh as Shildt asked the bullpen to protect a five-run lead.

It was Pederson who tagged Vásquez for a first-inning homer after Carroll’s leadoff double. The Diamondbacks threatened to add on in the first inning after Lourdes Gurriel’s two-out double, but Vásquez punched out Gabriel Moreno for the start of nine straight outs to settle into the game.

Including Friday’s quality start, Vásquez has a 1.76 ERA over his last three starts, all wins for the Padres.

“It’s really a combination of working on my mechanics and also working on sequencing each pitch,” Vásquez, speaking through interpreter Danny Sanchez, said of his last three starts. “Luckily I’ve been able to have good results with a combination of those two things.”

Given all the support he had in Boston, Vásquez was on his way to a win for himself in his last start when a comebacker off his right elbow knocked him from the game after four innings of one-run ball.

X-rays came back negative.

Just a lot of pain and swelling at first, enough for the Padres to push his start back a day to Friday.

But Vásquez did not have any limitations as he returned to the mound and pitched into the seventh inning for the second time in his career, both this season. He walked off the mound to a warm ovation from the record crowd.

Small ball had everything to do with Vásquez leaving with a lead.

First, Machado led off the second with a double, moved to third on a groundball from Donovan Solano and scored on another groundball from Merrill.

Two innings later, back-to-back seeing-eye singles from Cronenworth and Machado set up a four-run rally to give the Padres the lead. Both runners advanced a base on Solano’s fly ball to right-center and scored easily on the triple that Merrill pulled into the right-field corner.

David Peralta followed with a run-scoring double, Higashioka added a run-scoring single to open a 5-2 lead and the Padres catcher went deep in the sixth for his 10th homer of the season.

Nine of Higashioka’s blasts have come since June 1, tied with Merril for the most on the team over that stretch.

Fiesta Island Dog Park has been recognized as the nation’s best dog park for the second time as part of USA Today’s annual “10Best” Readers’ Choice Awards.

The 90-acre park on Mission Bay, which was first honored in 2016, is home to an extensive off-leash area, trails and a beach. USA Today described the space as “perfect for an evening on the beach with the pooch.”

Nominees were submitted by a panel of experts and voted by USA Today readers. The top three were rounded out by Newtown Dream Dog Park in Johns Creek, Ga., and Minto-Brown Island Park in Salem, Ore. Fiesta Island was the only park in California that received a top-10 finish.

The park is maintained by Fiesta Island Dog Owners, or FIDO, a non-profit group responsible for clean-up events, pet ownership advocacy and collaboration with authorities. The organization hosts 16,000 members, who were encouraged to vote for the park, according to their website.

Board member Kathy Parrish said in a press release that the first-place finish is a testament to the “hard work” and “passion” community and board members put into the park.

“This honor will further inspire us to continue our efforts in maintaining and improving this cherished space,” Parrish said.